


Fireflies

by phoebemaybe



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Some Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-30
Updated: 2017-08-30
Packaged: 2018-12-21 18:30:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11950131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoebemaybe/pseuds/phoebemaybe
Summary: What if that fateful Christmas Eve was not the first time the Doctor and Donna met? This is a story of how a little girl became an alien's companion for one short afternoon, never knowing that their paths would cross and intertwine in the future.





	Fireflies

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys :). I haven't seen many ten meeting little Donna fics. I thought I'd write a cute one for them. Enjoy~

"Donna?" The doctor’s sleepy voice echoed in the quiet TARDIS library.  
  
"Hmm?"   
  
"What were you like as a child?"  
  
"What's brought this up?" Donna narrowed her eyes, looking up at his face, snaking an arm around his waist. "We could go back and see me, can't we, time boy?"   
  
"Mmmm no. Don't want to risk it. Paradoxes. Reapers. Bad." The doctor mumbled with a slur. His mind drifting as he lay comfortably with Donna in his arms.  
  
"Reapers?"  
  
"Yup. No good. Explain later."   
  
Donna hummed, running a finger up and down, idly caressing the cottony fabric of the doctor's shirt, over his stomach. "Okay."   
  
Her body had been aching from all the running and exertion from the day before. So, Donna requested a day for them to relax and float about in the vortex, a day to stay in their pyjamas and bake cookies, to just be, to enjoy sometime where it was just the two of them. Donna was hesitant to ask, thinking the doctor would never survive being stationary for one minute, let alone a day. But to her surprise, he agreed.   
  
Unbeknownst to Donna, the doctor knew he would willingly give in to anything she wanted, not that he was going to tell her that of course. He would do anything to keep her safe, but most of all, anything to make her smile, to make her happy.  
  
Currently, they were cuddled together under a blanket on the couch in the TARDIS library, in front of a roaring fire, their books on the coffee table, forgotten, choosing rather to doze in each other's arms. Logs crackled, flames flickered, casting hypnotic dancing shadows about the room. The warmth of the fire and their combined body heat lulled the couple into a fuzzy, sleepy state of relaxation.   
  
"You must've been adorable. With your freckles and ginger curls and cherubic cheeks." The doctor smiled wistfully as he played with her flaming red locks that were spilled out across his chest.

"Hah! My mum can tell you what a menace I was. You don't want to know." Donna chuckled quietly, poking him in the side. The doctor jumped and grabbed her offending finger. "Donna!"  
  
Who would have thought the ever-fearsome lord of time couldn't handle tickles? Donna chortled and said with a smug grin. "This is amazing! Having a mighty time lord at my mercy with a single finger."   
  
"I'm always at your mercy, Donna." Dropping his voice down an octave, the doctor commented with a sultry drawl. Donna didn't need a mirror to know that her face had turned red to match her hair and it wasn't because of the heat from the fire. Turning her face into the doctor's chest. "Dumbo". The doctor chuckled fondly at her bashfulness. His heart swelling with love.  
  
"Why'd you ask about me as a child anyway?"  
  
"I was just reading earlier and I came across a description about fireflies. It got me thinking... I remembered a little girl helping me to look for them once." The doctor looked down at Donna with a tender smile. "I think.... she was you."  
  
                                                                                                                       

* * *

                                                      
  
A car pulled up at the junction of Rydale street, the rear door opened with a squeak and a little girl hopped off.   
  
"Bye, Mrs Robinson! Thanks for the ride. See you on Monday!"  
  
"Bye darling! Say hello to your mum for me."   
  
The little girl watched at the curb as the car with its boisterous passengers and their exasperated mother, turned the corner and went on its way, before walking down the street, back to her home that she shared with her parents and grandfather.  
  
She hummed a cheery tune to herself, skipping along the pavement, thinking about all the fun things she was going to do over the weekend. Fallen leaves of autumn crunching under her feet with each hop.  
  
"I hope gramps takes me to the zoo tomorrow!" The girl giggled, passing brick house after identical brick house. As she reached the entrance to Mallard Street, the little girl slowed in her tracks, noticing a very odd sight that definitely didn't happen everyday.  
  
A peculiar man with spiky brown hair, donning a long brown trench coat was crouched in the middle of the road holding a weird looking device that beeped vehemently. He twisted his body this way and that, facing one direction and then the next, moving with the beeps of the device, all the while muttering to himself. The man had his back to the little girl, so engrossed in the device that he didn't notice her creeping up on him.  
  
With her head tilted to the side, the little girl observed his actions with confusion and mild curiosity. She glanced around at the houses to see if anyone was watching from the windows. It didn't appear to be so. How had anyone not come out to ask this suspicious man what he was up to yet?  
  
Beep! Beep! Beep!   
  
"Huh. This way?" The man jumped up and spun around to face yet another direction.   
  
Well if no one came out to question him, she would. Taking a deep breath to gather her courage, the little girl asked: "What are you doing, mister?"   
  
The man's reply came as a distracted mumble, so preoccupied in his task; he didn't even bother to look up. "I'm looking for lighting bugs."   
  
"Lightning bugs?" The little girl scrunched up her nose in contemplation as she imagined insects emitting sparks flying about. "Do they shoot lightning out of their butts?"  
  
"Butts? Oh no, no, that's absurd, but they do-" the doctor explained animatedly with one of his hands flailing about as he turned around to face the person who asked him a question. "Oh!" He paused mid gesture, mouth hanging open, finally noticing a little girl with very ginger hair, tied up in a pony tail, standing behind him, watching him with wide blue eyes.  
  
"Hello. I didn't see you there!"   
  
"What's a lightning bug?" The little girl had her hands on her hips and a ginger eyebrow raised, waiting for his reply.  
  
The doctor's mouth snapped shut. What a spunky little girl. "Well, do you know what a firefly is?" He knelt down to look her in the eyes.  
  
"Oh yes! My teacher, Miss Tanner showed us pictures in class. They are tiny bugs with lights in their tummies that light up at night." The little girl recited with a lift of her chin and proud nod.  
  
"That's right! Well done." The doctor gave her a smile. "Fire flies are also known as lightning bugs. Now, the lightning bugs that I'm looking for however, are not so pleasant."   
  
"Why? Do they really shoot lightning out of their butts?" Exclaimed the little girl.  
  
The doctor smiled at her imagination. "Not exactly. They sap electrical energy from the surroundings. Say.... these street lamps." He looked up and pointed to the lamps lining the streets. "Or.... your television at home. Anything and everything that uses electricity." The little girl's eyes widened at the thought of tiny little insects being able to do something like that.   
  
"Oh!!!! And the best part! They're invisible! Isn't that fascinating?" The doctor's eyes were twinkling at the thought of such wondrous creatures. Having only read and heard of them, he couldn’t wait to meet them.  
  
"They don't sound like regular insects at all. Invisible? How will you ever find em?" The little girl gasped in disbelief. This task was seemingly impossible.   
  
The doctor bounced excitedly on his haunches in front of her. He lifted up the device and placed it in the girl's hands. "This is a meter I made. It can tell me where they are! And you're absolutely right! They are not normal insects, they are tiny extra terrestrial beings!"   
  
"What's extra tell...stral?" The little girl's face scrunched up in befuddlement as she stumbled over the foreign word, trying to pronounce it.  
  
"Extra terrestrial. It means not of this earth! Alien! Like me!"   
  
"Alien????" The little girl's eyes grew wider and wider as her eyebrows climbed higher towards her hairline. This man was an alien? "Yup!" The doctor replied enthusiastically emphasizing on the p, forcing it out through his lips with a pop. "I'm an alien. Well, time lord actually."   
  
"Wow..." She breathed. "I've never met an alien before. Gramps would be so happy to meet you! He loves space." The little girl smiled a toothy smile at the doctor, which he couldn't help but return with a grin of his own. "Well, I'd love to meet him after I find these pesky creatures."  
  
"Okay. But why do they need the electricity?"  
  
"They need it to survive of course. And I suspect right now they need it to power their ship as well. I've never seen them on earth before, definitely not in the 1970s. They must have crashed somewhere nearby, but where? Hmmm.... if they decide to start colonizing on earth..."  
  
The little girl felt her head spinning by the velocity of the man's rambling. He spoke so fast she was getting dizzy. She frowned and stomped her foot against the gravel, trying to get him to stop talking. "Earth would plunge into darkness. Not good, not good. We need to find them ASAP! But how... where could they be? They're invisible. How do I find them when I can't see them? Hmmmm...." The doctor tapped his chin as he chewed on the inside of his cheek, in thought. The little girl grimaced as her head spun. To make things worse, the doctor began pacing back and forth in front of her. Reaching up to grasp the man's coat sleeve, she huffed and gave it several sharp tugs.   
  
"Oi! Why'd you do that for?" The Doctor looked down at the girl in shock, shaken out of his reverie. She yanked so hard that he was jerked to the side.  
  
"Your talking was making me dizzy! You Dumbo!" she yelled, face turning red and looking downright cross.  
  
"Oh. I'm sorry. I tend to ramble when I get excited." The doctor rubbed his neck sheepishly.   
  
The little girl heaved a huge sigh. "So what are you going do?"   
  
"I'm going to catch them!" He was silent for a moment before he asking: "Say... do you have an empty jar?" The doctor dusted off his pants. "I will need an empty jar to capture these pesky creatures."  
  
"Didn't you bring one?" The little girl was baffled. How does one not come prepared to capture aliens?   
  
"Nope! That's why I need help. In this case, your help. Since there's no one else around..." The little girl glanced about. There was, indeed not a single soul in sight, not even a curtain fluttered, all was silent.   
  
  
The little girl stared at the doctor for a good long while through narrowed eyes as if weighing the value of his words before eventually stating: "Mum keeps them in the kitchen cabinet." The doctor smiled. "Good. Can I trust you with acquiring one? We're saving the earth!"  
  
The doctor's smile grew into a grin as he watched the girl's eyes light up at the thought of being entrusted with such an important task. She nodded and started running towards her home. "You wait here, mister!" Her voice trailed through the air as she ran down the street. Humans never ceased to surprise me with their kindness, the doctor thought fondly.  
  
A few minutes later, the little girl emerged from her house, clutching a mason jar, larger than her head, tightly with both hands as she cautiously tottered towards the doctor. Noticing her approach this time, the doctor strided over and met her halfway, lifting the jar from her tiny hands.   
  
"Gramps is taking a nap so I managed to empty the coins from the swear jar. Mummy swears when she gets angry." The girl giggled. "Is it big enough?"  
  
"You did a really good job. It's perfect, just what I needed. Thank you very much." The doctor smiled patting the girl on the head. She smiled bashfully at the praise, toeing the gravel ground under her foot.   
  
"Now.... How do we lure them out?" The doctor gave the meter a shake and a smack to recalibrate it. It whirred and beeped coming to life once more. The needle spun around repeatedly as if they were standing right on top of their target. "Hmmm..... the meter shows that they're here somewhere."   
  
"Won't they come out at night? They're like fireflies right?" The little girl looked up at the doctor quizzically.   
  
The doctor scratched his cheek as he looked up at the autumn sky and its orange and pink hues, noticing the setting sun as it began its descent, ending its shift in the sky. An idea clicked in the doctor's mind like a lit light bulb.  
  
"Yes! At night! It's when humans use the most electricity! Turning on the lights, cooking dinner, watching telly. It'd be a feast for them! The more they consume, the brighter they glow! We could see them when they light up!"   
  
"So, we wait?"  
  
"We wait."   
  
Just then, the little girl noticed a blue Ford Cortina driving down the road towards them as they stood on the curb. "Oh no! That's my mum and dad. They're back from work already?" Her heart fell. She didn't want to leave.  
  
"I don't want to go. We haven't caught them yet!" The little girl yelled in dismay. Tears of disappointment were welling up in her eyes. The doctor heard a sniffle and watched as the girl's face crumpled. "There now. Don't get upset. You should head home or else your parents would get worried if they didn't see you, wouldn't they?" He knelt back down in front of her. The little girl had her face turned down towards the ground, not meeting his eyes, with her hands clenched tightly into fists to keep from crying. "But... but we haven't.... we aren't safe yet!"   
  
"I'll catch them for you! You've helped me plenty by getting me this jar. Don't cry. You did a very good job." He gave her hair a ruffle in an attempt to cheer her up. "I couldn't have done this without your aid."  
  
The little girl sniffed, wiping at her eyes with the back of one hand as she stuck out her pinkie finger of the other. "You promise to catch them and keep us safe?"   
  
"I promise. I will keep this earth safe from any alien threats." The doctor hooked his own finger firmly around hers, sealing their promise.   
  
"Good."  
  
"Now off you go! Before your parents see you out here with a strange man!" The doctor turned her around and gave her a light nudge in the direction of her house.   
  
"You're not a strange man! You're an alien!" The girl laughed turning around to face him one final time. "And you're my friend!" She pounced forward and gave the suddenly surprised time lord a quick hug around his waist.  
  
"I hope l see you again!" The little girl said with a hopeful smile.  
  
"One day, if I'm lucky, I’m sure we’ll meet again!" The doctor leant down, hugging her back. "Now go!" He watched as the little girl ran back home, just two houses away from where he stood, to her family.   
  
Soon, the blue Ford zoomed by and parked outside the house. A weary couple exited the car and trudged towards the front door and went in. Just before it clicked shut, the doctor heard the woman’s bellow.  
  
"Donna Noble! Why are you still in your school uniform?"  
  
The doctor walked over to the curb and sat down to wait for nightfall, an amused smile pulling at his lips.  
  
So that was her name.  
  
"Well Donna, till we meet again. I'll keep this world safe for you to live in." This world could use more kind souls like her. He'd do his best to protect every one of them.

 

* * *

  
  
"So that's it! After we parted I sat down and waited for them to emerge. Turns out they were hiding in a storm drain." Finishing his tale, the doctor crossed his arms beneath his head, smacking his lips a few times.  
  
"What did you do with them? You didn't kill them did you?" Donna knew how unforgiving and relentless the wrath of this time lord could be, having witnessed it firsthand. She wouldn't wish it upon anyone.   
  
"Nahhhh they didn't do anything harmful. I brought them aboard the TARDIS and returned them to their home planet. Last I saw of them, they were cohabiting with flying eels in the clouds floating over Planet Thunduga."  
  
"That's nice. You did good." Donna praised the doctor giving him a thumbs up.  
  
"I am absolutely certain that child was you. Believe me that little girl was not a menace. She was a kind sweetheart. Just like the woman she grew to be." The doctor assured his Bella Donna, emphasizing his point with a lingering peck to Donna's forehead. He thought back to that little girl, about eight years old, innocent and untouched by the judgement of society.   
  
"But why don't I remember this? I would've remembered meeting you!" Lifting herself up from his embrace, Donna looked down at the doctor feeling absolutely perplexed, so caught up in her confusion she didn't even blush at his tender words.   
  
Feeling a chill pass between their parted bodies, the doctor scowled in discontentment. He sat up to pull her back into his arms, craving her warmth and the softness of her body. "Ahhh... Much better." The doctor let out a contented sigh. "Where were we...? Ah yes. It's simple. You simply forgot!"  
  
Donna frowned even harder, completely baffled by that notion. "No way I could have forgotten spending an afternoon with an alien! Searching for fireflies that weren't fireflies with an alien! How does one forget that?!"  
  
"You grew up, Donna. Sometimes things that happen as a child tend to get drowned out by life, responsibility, teenage angst, the need to fit in or work life. You put aside things that you believed in as a child, like Santa Claus, tooth fairies, and the Easter bunny or in my case, aliens. It happens. Only natural." The doctor offered her a comforting smile, threading their fingers together.  
  
What a shame to forget such an extraordinary memory. "Still.... I would've liked to keep that memory of meeting you while growing up. Maybe I would've found you sooner without almost being a giant spider's dinner."  
  
"Look on the bright side, you came to me without even trying!" The doctor laughed at the memory of a certain ginger bride appearing on his TARDIS in a hue of shimmering gold.   
  
"Yeah.... I was poisoned by my own fiancée and transported to your spaceship. I'm glad you find that amusing." Donna chided, giving him a deadpan stare as she withdrew her hand from his and slapped his chest.  
  
"Then I let you fly away." She sighed thinking of the time wasted and all the things they could have been doing if she'd only said yes that Christmas night. "Spent a whole year looking for you when we could've been traveling together already."  
  
The doctor gave her chin a chuck, making her meet his eyes and said: "Time is all we have, now that we're together. There's so much to explore. I have so much to show you! Lots more to share with you and plenty more slaps coming my way I reckon." He leant down to give her a gentle kiss. "Can't wait to see what we'll get ourselves into next."  
  
"Me too, my dear doctor." Donna laid her head back down on the doctor's chest, closing her eyes, listening to the double staccato of his heartbeats.  
  
After a few moments of blissful silence, Donna broke it with a question. "Hold on a minute... Why didn't you tell me we'd met before? You knew my name! You said my mum yelled out my name!"  
  
The doctor cleared his throat and gulped before he fessed up. "As much as I hate to admit, it slipped my mind. Until I read that passage about fireflies...." He looked all around the library at everything expect for Donna's face. Was it the fear of her wrath for forgetting her? Or fear for the amount of teasing she would subject him to, realizing that he wasn't as infallible as he appeared to be? He didn't know. Maybe both.  
  
"You.... forgot about me?" Donna's eyebrows rose in feigned shock. "Firstly, how could you? And secondly, you claim that you're so clever when in fact, it turns out you're just an outer space dunce!" Donna mused out loud.   
  
Oh the embarrassment!  
  
The doctor groaned as he covered his face with an arm. Looking at him like this brought out a snigger and a smile to Donna's face. This was fun. Besides, his ginormous ego could use some deflating.  
  
Donna pulled his arm away from his face and placed it around her waist. "Don't sulk, everyone forgets things sometimes. Especially, when you’re living such a crazy life. Also, I probably look very different as an adult huh? Despite knowing my name, you couldn't have possibly connected that child to me even if you did remember meeting her."  
  
The doctor was glad he finally found someone who wouldn't hold his vulnerabilities against him, at least not for too long. Donna accepted him as him, alien, flaws and all. She understood and stuck around no matter what. She never balked at the idea of his non-human ways. In fact, she revelled in the experience with enthusiasm, fascination and an open mind.   
  
"You look beautiful now. Back then you were adorable. One thing that hasn't changed is your brilliance. It shines so brightly, along with your empathy and heart of gold." Donna could hear the utter awe and reverence in each word being whispered to her. The doctor's thumb glided across her cheek with a tenderness that made her quiver. Sometimes, she couldn't help but wonder, what exactly her space man saw in her, looking at her like she was the most magnificent thing he'd ever seen.  
  
Her space man. She liked the sound of that.   
  
"Aren't you just a great, big flatterer?" Donna rolled her eyes, biting her lip to keep from grinning.   
  
"It's not flattery if it's the truth." The doctor hugged her close placing a kiss to her hair. Donna nuzzled his neck with a dopey smile, which morphed into a huge yawn.  
  
"Let's go visit those fireflies, space man." Donna uttered as her eyes drifted shut. The clutches of sleep pulling her under.  
  
"Okay, my earth girl."  
  
The doctor settled the blanket firmly around them before joining Donna in the land of dreams.

 

**Author's Note:**

> So that's it! I hope you guys like this story. Thanks for reading! Tell me what you think please!


End file.
